The Immunity of Arbitrators edited by Dr. Julian D. M. Lew

Abstract

The Immunity of Arbitrators edited by Dr. Julian D. M. Lew. Published by Lloyd's of London Press Ltd, UK, (1990, 129 pp and xix, incl. Index). Hardback. price £52. Dr. Julian Lew has a valuable instinct for identifying the key issues of the day. In his classic work The Applicable Law in International Arbitration (now urgently in need of a new edition) and in the later Contemporary Problems in International Commercial Arbitration he brought to the international arbitration community a cogent understanding of some important areas of practice. Now, in The Immunity of Arbitrators he has once again made a significant contribution in a field which gives cause for concern in our increasingly litigious society. The whole area of the legal status of arbitrators and their liabilities to civil process is a minefield in which there is currently little or no harmonisation in different legal systems. Indeed, in only a handful of jurisdictions is the position settled. One such rare jurisdiction is the United States of America which appears to be the only country in which arbitrators enjoy absolute immunity. > Arbitrators may act with impunity, > > For theirs is a favored community, > > Though losers may whine, > > And even malign, > > Judges will guard your immunity. So said a United States judge, apparently, in an address to a conference of arbitrators. Indeed, immunity from suit both for arbitrators and arbitral institutions is deeply rooted in U.S. Federal common law. There have been some incursions at the level of State courts, but even where that has happened State legislatures have stepped in quickly to reaffirm the absolutely character of immunity. At the other end of the spectrum a very few civil law countries go in the opposite direction explicitly. The 1988 Spanish Arbitration Act contains the following provision: > 16. Acceptance obligates the arbitrators and, if such is the case, the Institution or Association, to faithfully fulfil their assignment, incurring, if they do not do so, liability for damages they may occasion due to …